Recap guide
Recap the Original Xbox
On 1.0 to 1.4 boards the 1F clock supercap can leak alkaline fluid and eat traces, so remove it promptly. Other board caps date from the plague era.
Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.
Worth a recap. Reports say it is a common and useful fix on this machine.
Which board do I have?
Boards changed during production. These notes come from the linked sources, and many are only partly documented, so check the board in front of you.
- Xbox 1.0 and 1.1 (High confidence). How to tell: Check the revision on the sticker; clock supercap sits behind the first controller port and is black. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says the black 1F 2.5V clock caps in 1.0 to 1.4 are low quality and prone to leaking. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: yes. Source
- Xbox 1.2 to 1.4 (High confidence). How to tell: Same clock cap location as 1.0 and 1.1; some later 1.4 units have a gold supercap. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says some later 1.4 units use gold supercaps that are less prone to leaking. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: yes. Source
- Xbox 1.6 (High confidence). How to tell: Clock supercap is gold and sits near the IDE socket. Capacitors: ConsoleMods says all 1.6 systems use the gold supercap, which tends to bulge rather than leak. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: yes. Source
Where to start
Clues from write-ups and forum threads, not a diagnosis. Low confidence means one thread or one repair; high means several write-ups agree.
- Clock supercap (High confidence). ConsoleMods says the 2.5V 1F clock capacitor leaks on 1.0 to 1.4 boards, while 1.6 boards are fine but can take a replacement. Two other write-ups also show leaks or a replacement supercap. Source
- Per-revision cap counts (Medium confidence). A preservation write-up gives cap counts and sizes per revision (V1.0/1.1, V1.2, V1.6) and shows trace repair after a leak. Source
- Early unit recap (Low confidence). One early unit was recapped with 3300uF/6.3V caps and a new supercap. Source
Tips, tales and maybes
Found in write-ups and forum threads. These are other people's reports, not tested by us. Check part references and values against your own board.
- Story: Eject button flashes the LED then it shuts off (Low confidence). An AtariAge poster whose Xbox would not power on, with the eject button lighting the LED and fans for about a second, traced it to the leaking clock cap eating power traces on an older board. They removed the cap, patched the traces with wire and replaced five other caps, saying the damage needs magnification to see and that 1.6 boards are not affected. Source
- Tip: Several PSU versions (Low confidence). An older AtariAge Xbox repair thread notes there are around four PSU variants tied to the motherboard revision, and recommends checking for a corroded trace on the underside whenever the clock cap is mentioned. Source
- Story: Powers on by itself, eject cycles power (Low confidence). An r/originalxbox post (seen on the nyc1.lr.ggtyler.dev mirror) describes a console that powered on when plugged in, ignored the power button and cycled power on eject, blamed on trace rot left by the already-removed clock cap near the front edge. Replies suggested magnified inspection, jumper wires and an ultrasonic bath. Source
- Story: Clock cap brand (Low confidence). A poster in an AtariAge thread about old caps said the Xbox clock cap in a black PowerStor wrapper is the leaker, and that Nichicon replacements are more reliable. This is one person's claim. Source
- Watch out: 1.6 needs a working clock cap (Medium confidence). ConsoleMods says that unlike earlier boards, 1.6 and 1.6b consoles will not power up without a functioning clock cap and give error 16 if it is removed. It also warns that fitting it backwards risks fire (match the stripe to the board marking), that replacing a leaker with the same black model will leak again, and that old softmods may need a BIOS update to avoid clock-loop errors before removal. Source
- Tip: Choosing replacement caps (Medium confidence). The ConsoleMods capacitor page says to match capacitance, use an equal or higher voltage rating, keep impedance low (especially VRM caps), and that a 3300uF cap may be replaced by two 1500uF in parallel. It recommends staying with the original type rather than polymer, and notes bottom leaks may not show from above. Source
- Tip: Five edge traces (Low confidence). A preservation write-up says five traces along the motherboard edge are the ones eaten after a clock-cap leak, that the ground trace usually survives, and that the other four typically need a wire strap bypass. The author's symptoms were the DVD tray opening by itself and a dead power button. Source
- Story: Bulging pair near the CPU and GPU (Low confidence). One early Xbox had a heavily leaked clock cap plus two bulging 3300uF 6.3V caps near the GPU and CPU, and the author improvised a 1F supercap for the clock cap. The claim that units made after about April 2004 are usually unaffected comes from that one author. Source
Before you start
- Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.
Guides we used
This page and the interactive bench are built from these. They have the photos and the full detail, so please read them and support their authors.
- Xbox: Clock Capacitor (Step-by-step) by ConsoleMods Wiki, CC BY. Has a capacitor list. Clear on which models leak, the 2.5V 1F spec and 1.6/1.6b options
- Xbox: Capacitor Replacement (List) by ConsoleMods Wiki. Has a capacitor list. Says a list of caps per revision exists and gives brand/part suggestions; the page showed no license footer
- Preserving an Original Xbox (Write-up) by XtoF. Has a capacitor list. Per-revision cap counts and sizes (V1.0/1.1, V1.2, V1.6) plus trace repair after a leak. License not stated
- Why you should take a look inside your original Xbox ASAP (Write-up) by Dreamcast.nu. Recap of an early unit with 3300uF/6.3V caps and a new supercap; copyright reserved, link only
The capacitor list
We have not checked a capacitor list for this machine yet, so none is shown. Follow the guide above for your board, then add the capacitors in the interactive checklist and it builds a shopping list for you.
Skip the sourcing
While you are in there
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Steps, tools and safety
The steps, the tools in top, middle and budget picks, and the safety list are the same for every machine, so they live on one page: How to recap, step by step.
Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.